Improvement in magazine fire-arms



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. SALTER, QF ST. MARYS, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 20$,696, dated October 8, 1878; application filed September 4, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. SALTER, of St. Marys, in the county of Elk and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Magazine-Guns and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make'and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawin gs, and to letters of reference marked there on, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates particularly to improvements in breech-loading magazine shotguns; and the objects attained by my improvements are, briefly, as follows: Decreased number of parts and more strength than other guns of the kind; it will handle the straight shot-shell as well as the tapered rifle-cartridge; it can be loaded at breech and the magazine retained; it cannot be discharged while loadin g, either by accident or design; the cartridges can be withdrawn from magazine by simply pressing down a spring on rear end of magazine and immediately in front of carrierblock, thus saving the trouble, as in all other guns of the kind, of first throwing the shell into the barrel and out again.

The essential parts are, first, a reciprocating plunger to drive the cartridge home and sustain the shock of recoil upon explosion; second, a toggle-lever, whereby said plunger is operated; third, a vertically-sliding carrier, operated by a lever, which is also actuated by the toggle lever; fourth, a needle, located axially in the plunger and driven forward by hammer.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, showing the parts in operative position. Fig. 2 is a similar section, showing the parts in action. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line as m.

A is the breech part of the stock, and B is the barrel of the gun, both being made of metal, and joined in any usual and proper manner to the ordinary wooden stock (J. j

The magazine D is located underneath the barrel. The carrier E moves vertically in a guide or chamber in the frame immediately at the breech of the barrel, and carries a cartridge from the magazine at the same time that it discharges the spent shell from the barrel. The carrier E is actuated by a lever, F, which is pivoted to the stock and thrown upward by a spring, G, which, in turn, is con trolled by a traveler, H, attached to and moving with the plunger 1. The spring G is a flat spring, laid longitudinally and horizontally in the bottom of the stock, and the traveler H runs upon its upper surface, and depresses it or releases it, according to the direction of movement.

The carrier consists of two side plates, joined at the bottom, and two longitudinal ribs, 0 e, opposite to each other, but not touching, forming within the carrier an upper and lower receptacle. The lower one receives the cartridge from the magazine, while the upper one receives the spent cartridge from the barrel.

The plunger I is provided at its forward end with a head, i, which is fitted to cover the flange-chamber at the breech of the barrel. This head is also smaller than the carrier-receptacles, so that it may move through either of them, while the body of the plunger is of a diameterwhich will permit it to pass between the ribs 0 c, and therefore the carrier may move up or down irrespective of the plunger when it is thrown forward, and the plunger may reciprocate whether the carrier be in its upper or lower position. At its rear end the plunger is jointed to the toggle-lever J, which is pivoted to the frame, and is prolonged in the usual way to form a trigger-guard and hand-piece.

Retracting-hooks d are placed upon the head i, to seize the flange of the cartridge in the chamber and withdraw it when the plunger retracts. A firing-needle, K, passes axially through the plunger, and projects at the breech in line with the hammer L in such a way that as the plunger pushed over by said needle past full-cock, as shown in Fig. 2, and locked while the breech is open.

A spring-stop, M, arrests the cartridges in the magazine when the carrier is raised up; but said stop is pushed down by the lower movement of the carrier, so that when it comes to rest the cartridge may slide into the lower receptacle. A spring moves the cartridges in the magazine in the usual way.

is withdrawn the hammer is When the carrier is up, as shown in Fig. 2, the magazine may be loaded or unloaded at pleasure without the removal of any parts of the gun. By a part movement the plunger may be withdrawn and the spent shell retracted without permitting the carrier to complete its upper movement, and the old shell may be removed and a new cartridge introduced by hand over the top of the carrier, thus reserving the magazine.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The carrier E and its actuating-lever F and spring G, in combination with the trav- JOHN H. SALTE R.

Witnesses ANDREW KAUL, J. M. SHAFFER. 

